For The Love Of A Word

My name is in another book. 

This book is called FOR THE LOVE OF A WORD. 

It is a collection of encouragement letters and poems for writers. 

My name is right under a letter for extroverts. 

Because everything is for introverts these days.

I decided to "unbox" the package (except I'd already opened it the day before haha).

I don't like making videos, but sometimes it's good to do things you hate doing. 

My friend Lauren also has a letter in the book, right beside mine!

Her letter doesn't discriminate against energy types ... she writes for all writers. 

"BUT WHAT IS IN THIS BOOK!?" 

I've done an in-depth review of every anthology I've been published in before (two counts as every, right?). 

But there are too many pieces in this book. 

Of course, since Annie Twitchell organized this, every word in this book sings and cries beauty. 

But here are some specific pieces that resonated with me: 

• The first two poems by C.F. Barrows

  • In the first one, can I just say I really admired her rhythm and rhyming pattern? I took a second to study that before I could focus on her amazing words. 

  • I'd quote from the second one, except then I'd post the whole poem. Let's just say it brought tears to my eyes over something I thought I'd finally got over. I guess it's true when they say you never truly get over things, you just heal and learn to live wholly anyways. But you always wish ... 

• The escaping reality photo by Selina Eckert is hilarious. 

• Melissa Holliday has some good words for beginning writers in My Dearest New to the World of Writing Author

• Ahhh I love what Selina Eckert says in her Don't wait for a Maybe-One-Day. As someone with a hope chest, and who used to save bath packs and other oddities for a special occasion, I REALLY related to this article. There are still save or use only extremely occasionally the things in my hope chest, but I've recovered from my need to wait, and I now live fully. 

  • "If you don't create your own future, [or] make your dreams start working for the space they take up in your head, nothing will ever happen ... Don't wait for inspiration; it's too fickle to be reliable."

• My friend, Lauren Grinder, challenges people to write purposefully. 

  • "In short, you can have an impact on your readers with the power of words ... us the power of your words to change the world."

• C.S. Taylor writes vividly.

  • I'm so proud of you I could die.

  • What's next?

  • Whatever you want, my dear.

• And of course, Annie Twitchell has things to tell us. From the first poem in the book to the last few letters ...

  • "Words will stammer and stutter and trip over themselves" ~ An Exasperated Writer

  • "Remember that you have a paintbrush and that blackest night is only a blank canvas waiting to be littered with stars ... Remember that you have an eraser and you can smudge out the sharp edges." ~ A Note to Myself

  • "Do not be afraid to capture the people who hurt you, and in your pages, burn them." ~ To the Child Who Was Hurt

  • "Do not let the cruelty of others break you. Grieve for it, always, but do not let it dictate your choices. Be angry. Be hard. Be soft. Be loving." ~ The Last Letter

There are letters on rejection, on hope, on hard work. There are letters for high schoolers and those who have written longer. There are funny parts, and there are parts that might make you cry. Mostly, there are many places that will inspire you and challenge you to go and pick up your pen and write the story that you are meant to write. 

 You can find the book on:

• Amazon

  • paperback 

  •  ebook

• Goodreads

Lauren Grinder and I, photo taken by our amazing friend, Elizabeth Varnes. Lauren's and my letters are right next to each other! Now, how neat is that!?

Thank you to all the following people for sharing about For The Love Of A Word on their blogs!

Savannah Jezowski

Cathrine Bonham

Rebekah DeVall

Laura A. Grace

Abigail Swanson

Selina Eckert

Rebekah Lewis

Have you read this book yet or anything else by Annie Twitchell? Do you like writing help/ inspiration books? If so, definitely get this book because it's super unique and it has my name in it!

Also, I've decided to start being more active on The Whatever Girl. So follow me if you want to watch me try to figure out this vlogging thing ;D